Paterson Inlet on the way to Ulva Island. This is an inland waterway!
Sydney Cove - Ulva Island
It was Monday 16th the last semi-ok day for this week, according to Predict Wind, so we wanted to use it wisely. We planned to hit Ulva Island today as we missed it due to rescheduling to accomodate the Chopper flight of the Island yesterday. Ulva was the first part of Stewart Island to be protected in 1899 under the Land Act 1892 primarily for the preservation of native game and flora. Apparently the first occupant of the Island, Charles Traill was a naturalist and botanist who advocated to protect the island in its natural state although he himself did introduce some tree species not normally found here. These trees remain but are controlled. More about that later......
We had our breakfast and weighed anchor doing a cruise right around the Island of Ulva until we come around to the semi-sheltered Sydney Cove. The weather turned sour as we rounded the southern end of the Island with the Inlet turning to 1 metre waves and the wind jumped up to 25 knots. We pulled into the cove sheltered by its contour and the small Island at the end of the Cove.
We put our shorts on and took our shoes and socks with us. We sprayed our legs as a precaution against sandflies and mossies but it would seem that the worst of them has passed with the temperatures dropping so much, also the lateness of the season. We wore warm upper body clothing with light rainproof jackets to keep us dry. We took the tender with our backpack of snacks and water and a towel to dry our feet after bringing the tender ashore. The tide had about another two hours to run till high tide. We made the shore through the small waves without incident. Just as well, as a heap of people had just arrived on the beach from the ferry that calls over three times a day and we didn’t want any stuff ups! It has happened once before but thankfully on an empty beach with only ourselves cracking up when we were flipped by the powerful waves rolling in, after first broaching. I now ride the waves in at the speed of the sea, keeping the boat straight is the trick.
Guess who left his shoes and socks on the boat!
We did every walk available with our guide book in hand. This was a very comprehensive book, well structured and detailed. There were beautiful tracks and steps throughout the Island, a real credit to the people who built them. The history of the Island is interesting, with the first Post Office, built in 1892 and used until 1923. It was located just around the corner from Sydney Cove, run by Charles and Jessie Traill, along with their daughter, they were the only people living there. Apparently when the mail delivery arrived every week or so Charles raised a flag which could be seen from many parts of the Island. This it became a big event for the people of Stewart Island who then arrived on mass at Ulva to collect their mail that had come from the mainland as well as from all corners of the world. It was treated as a family day out. The old home is now privately owned so unable to be seen from the track. We didn’t see any kiwi but the bird life was prolific, some were huge, like the Kaka and others were small and very friendly like the Stewart Island Robin. Even a male Tui flew up close and sang to us for as long as we were prepared to listen. The moment we became distracted it flew away again. I’m not really into this stuff but the whole place felt very special and oh so unspoilt. We went through a little nature trail which was a loop track and had signs pointing out the features for all the significant plants. I was particularly interested in the Miro tree which has an abundance of bright red berries that the birds love. The word Kaimiro, now the name of my family trust, was named after Kaimiro Street, where Stainless Design is based. When researching the meaning, we understood that it referenced our area in Te Rapa where Ngati Wairere were settled and referred to the fact that it was the food-bowl for the local Iwi (Tribe), Kai meaning (food) and Miro (tree) The area was once rich in Flaxes, berries, bird life and other provisions for Ngati Wairere. The Miro trees have long since gone from kaimiro street but here on Ulva they were prolific and thriving in the bush environment. We easily clocked up our 10,000 steps for the day walking all the tracks.
Great tracks throughout the Island of Ulva and beautifully built steps below.
Our new mate - the Stewart Island Robin
Even the signage was first class!
Miro tree with red berries everywhere under foot.
Our new friends - from Left to Right. Julie, Tami and Arkwright
Oh no - not crayfish again!!
When done, we made our way back to the boat for a late lunch on board, then we motored back to Thule Bay for another night there. Once back at anchor we changed and made our way into town for tea - I was hanging out for a meal of Stewart Island Crayfish. We made our way to the pub first, as was becoming a habit, we took the top off a stoneleigh Pinot Noir for the second time! We went into the bar first as we had booked our table for 6:30pm, the bar was heaving with people so we sat down and chatted about our day and then phoned friends, Charlie and Amy in Hamilton as we were aware Amy’s mum may be here also. They advised us that they were just about to leave the Island so we carried on chatting thinking that we had missed the opportunity to meet them. Next thing, there is Amy’s mum standing in front of us, we could straight away see the resemblance. Julie introduced us to Tami, also from Putaruru and we sat down to have a good old chat. We felt right at home, soon we had a new friend at the table. He was big gregarious fellow who had spent 42 years on the island, originally as a trader operating from where the Four Square store is now. His shop was more of a hardware store, in fact it was one of the original Guthrie Bowron stores. In those days they sold most things related to building. Helen (the pub landlady) was having a chat with him at his table and was about to leave so she just stood up saying, “here you can join these people”, pointing to us, to finish your beer. We said, “sure, come and join us”. He introduced himself as Arkwright (not his real name-Open all Hours fame) but added, if I told you my real name you won’t remember me but you will remember Arkwright! His name was probably John! Once we knew his back story we realised why. He said his late wife was called Granville because she was too small to be called Nurse Gladys Emmanuel. He really was like Arkwright, both in stature and personality wise too, a real character. He even had the bike with the big basket on the front, so he clearly entered into the spirit of his nickname. Once he sold the Hardware store he bought a rock crusher and was quarrying stone for concrete and roading until he retired. He referred to the South Sea Hotel as ‘the craypot’, easy to get into but bloody hard to get out of! A very likeable fellow and a pleasure to spend time with.
Jo and I eventually went through for our meal an hour late for our booking time but they were fine with that and we sat down a beautiful meal, me with Crayfish tail and Jo with Blue Cod, both dishes were amazing! Jo and I headed for home over the hill to Thule Bay. It was pitch black, while walking along we almost ran into a woman coming towards us, we were about 500mm apart before we saw each other! We passed the rugby field and could see torchlights around the perimeter of the bush where tourists were searching for Kiwi, I think the Kiwi would have scurried back into the bush real quick with the torchlights flashing all over the place. We used our torch to see where we were going after that, and soon needed it when the street lights ended. It was a new moon and very cloudy, so no night sky light at all. We found the dinghy and climbed down the ladder to the beach taking our shoes and socks off to get away from shore. It was great to get back to the warmth of the boat and so ended another interesting and eventful day in the south.
The Craypot!